Progress in bodybuilding isn't just about linear weight gain. A 2 second pause in exercise will break through the muscle plateau. You must remember that pauses should not be used all the time. However, thanks to this, you will be able to increase the strength indicators in those sections of the range of motion that are given to you the most difficult. Pauses will also help you mentally check, so you can make sure that the mechanics of the exercise are optimal. Today we are going to talk about how a two second pause will increase your progress in muscle growth.
Pauses and basic exercise elements
All basic exercises have three main elements, in the absence of which the effectiveness of the training can be reduced. By using pauses during basic exercises, you can improve these elements. Let's talk about them now.
1 element - strength in basic positions
Pauses in key positions increase the athlete's isometric strength, and they do it more efficiently compared to the traditional style of performing movements. Isometric strength is a rather important indicator, since when it is lacking, the technique of performing the movement is disrupted.
So, for example, if you are unable to maintain the necessary deflection of the lower back during the pulling movements at the moment when the bar is located below the level of the knee joints, then during the use of the maximum working weight, this point of the trajectory will become dead.
No less important is the fact that with the usual movement of a sports equipment, the inertial impulse gradually increases as the movement is performed. This can be used to overcome trajectory blind spots. The light weight can compensate for the lack of strength, but when working with large weights, this is very noticeable. To summarize briefly, we can confidently say that with high strength indicators, the effectiveness of the entire training increases.
2 element - the force for lifting a sports equipment
In general, pauses should not be used to increase the strength of the pause. This must be done to increase strength while overcoming weak parts of the trajectory of movement. When you use submaximal weights of 85% of 1RM, a lot of inertia can be generated at the start of the movement. This will lead to the fact that at some points of the trajectory, not muscle power will be used, but inertia. This fact negatively affects the effectiveness of the training.
Element 3 - Optimal Movement Mechanics
Also, due to the presence of pauses in the execution of movements, you can make sure that the mechanics are correct. This contributes to improving the technique of performing the exercise, which is very important for achieving constant progress.
Eccentric and concentric pauses
Pauses, like phases of movement, can be eccentric and concentric. In the first case, you need to fix the sports equipment for a couple of seconds while lowering it, and in the second, when lifting it. Eccentric pauses are lighter and for this reason inferior in efficiency to concentric ones.
They can be used to increase eccentric strength, which is generally beneficial, but they are not suitable for increasing concentric strength. This is because using inertia makes concentric movement easier and eccentric movement more difficult.
Concentric pauses are much more demanding on the strength of the athlete, since they help to eliminate the inertia that always occurs when a sports equipment is lifted. To continue the movement, the athlete must repeatedly overcome inertia, stopping the movement. This often happens in the weakest position.
Based on all of the above, we can say that during lifting weights, more muscles are involved in the work. Also, thanks to them, you can concentrate on the technique of performing the movement and body position. In turn, eccentric pauses can be used to gain mass. Thus, it is very effective to do a couple of sets with eccentric pauses, and then switch to concentric in the remaining sets.
Let's talk about specific exercises now and start with the pause squat in the lower trajectory position. This way of doing the exercise is quite effective for gaining mass, since it allows you to eliminate the reflex desire to hit the projectile at the lowest point of the trajectory.
This reflex is able to significantly weaken the contractile effort of the muscles in the first third of the trajectory of movement. But when using a pause in the lowest position before the start of the lift, it will make the muscles work throughout the entire trajectory. For this reason, the front squat with a two second pause is a great test of leg strength.
It must be said that pauses at the bottom of the movement while doing squats will help you increase your mobility, as they are essentially a form of stretching under load. It should also be noted that if you use pauses infrequently, you will not find noticeable progress.
You can also pause before starting the ascent. This will increase the power performance in the first centimeters of the trajectory. To keep a pause at the beginning of the ascent, after reaching the bottom point of the trajectory, you should begin the ascent, as always, but after walking a few centimeters until the point of 90 degrees has not yet been reached, but the pelvis is above the level of the knee joints, pause.
In this case, a very important point is the need to maintain an ideal body position. The chest should be upright, the lower back is arched, the muscles of the upper back are tense, and the gaze is directed forward. If you are unable to maintain this body position, then reduce the operating weight. This is very important and it is best to donate a few pounds.
This is how we answered the question of how a two-second pause will increase the progress in muscle growth. Pauses can be performed in all basic exercises by analogy with the squat we just talked about.
For more information on pauses in exercises and between repetitions, see this video:
